Yankees Will Not Sign Stephen Drew

Yankees GM Brian Cashman says that the club will not sign Stephen Drew, reports Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com (via Twitter). After missing out on Omar Infante, New York had been rumored to be considering a run at the free agent infielder.

As MLBTR's Charlie Wilmoth recently explained, Drew is far and away the most attractive middle infielder left on the open market. For New York, then, choosing to pass on his services means that the club will not further supplement its infield mix through a significant free agent signing. A trade may still be possible, but having re-signed Derek Jeter and Brendan Ryan while adding Brian Roberts and Kelly Johnson, the Yanks have already been quite active in adding players who can man short, second, or third.

If the Yankees are indeed out on Drew, relatively dry demand figures to remain the major impediment to a substantial, multi-year deal for the 30-year-old. Last we heard, Drew was still in discussions with the Mets. And, of course, Drew could still fit in Boston. But as Gammons notes, it will be "delicate" for the Red Sox to bring him back on a pillow contract after he turned down the club's qualifying offer.

His price has already dropped. He’s not getting anything more than 3 years and that too if he’s lucky. Plenty of teams would sign him to a 2 or 3 year deal, but how many are willing to also give up a draft pick in the process? That’s the question.

The Mets only have to give up their 3rd round pick and have a SS vacancy. They make the most sense of any team. He doesn’t even make much sense for Boston because they can get a 1st rounder for him.

Completely agree with this. I think they want Drew at SS, and Boegarts at 3rd. If that happens I think Middlebrooks is traded.
I personally would like to see them give Middlebrooks a chance. At times he shows glimpses of being really solid, but may be too risky to do that.

I wonder who a good match up for a trade would be? I have heard talks about the Cubs wanting Kris Bryant to play the OF instead of third base. They got Olt this past year, wonder if a swap could be made with them for one of there OF prospects since they seem to have a good amount of them. Heck, it seems as though they have a few good SS prospects. Maybe Olt+ another prospect for Middlebrooks?

I highly doubt the Cubs move for Middlebrooks, they already have quite a few players that could potentially work at 3rd, to varying degrees, in the future (Bryant, Baez, Candelario). Furthermore, they already have the buy-low on a formerly high-ranked, high-ceiling but struggling prospect at 3rd in Olt.

It’d be a move to make a move for the Cubs, wouldn’t make much sense (especially if it’s for anything of value, which it’d have to be as an Olt for Middlebrooks swap wouldn’t be fair since Olt has struggled mightily with vision problems to the point of being an almost confirmed bust).

The problem is that Middlebrooks hasn’t exactly wowed anyone yet and therefore probably isn’t going to bring much of a return in a trade. I’d keep him around if the Sox re-sign Drew since he could play 3B or 1B or DH if they rest Papi against certain lefties. Also, wasn’t there talk of trying Boegarts in the outfield at one point?

Who would he replace though? I could see him at Center possibly (seems like he may be speedy; didnt get to watch a ton of games last year though) but at some point you have to let JBJ take a shot at the job. From what I have heard, he is pretty comparable to Ellsbury (not sure where I heard this). I would like to see Middlebrooks around still and sign Drew.

They’ve already got that covered in the International Draft, and the Yankees farm system isn’t in terrible shape. They have quite a few in the top 100. They just need to do some re-stocking or they ARE going to be in trouble pretty quickly.

Farm rankings are debatable, but Baseball America ranked the Yankees’ farm 16th in the league last October, and that was including Gary Sanchez as a prospect. If he comes up, that will lower their ranking, just as Zunino’s promotion lowered the Mariners’ ranking. Plus, they only had three ranked players above the Gulf Coast League besides Sanchez.

BTW, the amount a team can spend on international draftees is reduced in proportion to their standing in the league. I believe that means 15 teams will be allowed to spend more than the Yankees.

Drew plays shortstop. He doesn’t play second or third base. He wouldn’t be a particularly good offensive player at either. I’m surprised more fans haven’t called for Alfonso to go back to his old position by that logic. Jeter hasn’t exactly left the building and next years SS crop has plenty of alternatives.

Jeter is all but out of the SS building for sure, even 80 games in the field at 40 would be breaking trends in that department. Brendan Ryan is starting a lot of games this year, the next debate is Jeter or Soriano vs RHP at DH.

Jeter kills them with his glove, Ryan kills them with his bat. Drew is an upgrade over both of them except against LHP’ers, so he could be platooned with Jeter. Jeter should move to 3B but Drew could play there until Jeter goes back on the DL..

That’s exactly what I wanted in the first place. I heard the Mets were shopping him I’m suprised Yankees didn’t want to go after him but they probably wouldn’t trade to another NY team. Then again what do the yankees have to offer..

Ever since the hot stove opened up, that’s precisely what I’ve been hoping for. The Mets have a 3rd baseman to spare and the Yankees need one. The Yankees have prospects and the Mets need them. Obviously it wouldn’t be a 1:1, but I keep thinking about a deal around Williams or Sanchez.

The Yankees won’t be needing either, so both are expendable for trading purposes. Williams would stay put in the Mets system until he was ready to play, but Sanchez would be instant trade bait to get a 1b or SS.

The deal just makes way too much sense for both sides, IF they can get over their mutual distaste for dealing with one another.

It’ the right move for the Yankees, although they would have been better off in 2014 with Drew. The Red Sox made the QO with the intention of getting a draft pick, not re-signing him, but if the price we right and the term short enough, there’s no harm. Mets could use him, but it doesn’t make them a contender and they are still in fruga mode. Drew may have to wait longer, until an opening occurs that isn’t there right now (such as a trade or injury.)

That’s a fair point. Granderson was a spend, as was Colon. They paid market for those guys. They didn’t go on on the bigger contracts, but perhaps they felt success was too far away and this was the best they were going to do. The team needs help.

I doubt it would work. Then if the team offers a QO the agent and player have can’t get mad because you can have that kind of agreement. Plus why would the redsox do that? They can get a first round pick when they have said they are fine with what they have. The market for him isn’t overwhelming because no one wants to lose the pick. The red Sox have an advantage because drew didn’t accept a one year deal for 14 mil. If he signs with the Red Sox he won’t do a one year deal.

Why would Drew want to play another year there when one slump or DL trip means he could be on the bench and trash his free agency chances next year. XB is ready now, that was not the case last year, so there will be all kinds of pressure on Farrell to bench Drew in favor of XB and play XMB at 3B.

My total came out to 4.1 last year. But I think that a healthy Jeter will provide 1.5 WAR, which is far better than the SS position last year. If Tex can produce a 3.0 WAR and the rest of the infielders only drop it down at -0.5, then I could see them getting 4.0 WAR.

Might even wait until June 15. Just a matter of time before teams rosy projections of what they have at SS are blown to dust by reality. A close look at Jeter in February, or a major injury will have teams knocking on the door. Boras is patient. And when the dust clears on Tanaka and the other free agents pitchers, teams that lose out will spend their money on upgrading at SS.

I hope so. SS has been a black hole for I don’t know how long… Our last two shortstops have been Clint Barmes and Ronny Cedeno enough said. Mercer could play against every LHP by spelling Walker, Alvarez, and Drew as they are all lefties. Well Walker is a switch hitter but he can’t hit right handed. He could bat 2nd and move down to 6th when Gregory Polanco comes up.

I’m a Mercer fan and would like to see what he could do for a full year. But if we could sign Drew to a 2 or 3 year deal at around $9 million per, I think the Pirates would have to jump on that. It would make the Pirates better with Drew starting everyday and Mercer starting at 2B against lefties. I don’t see this happening because I don’t think NH would give up a draft pick.

They will miss his bat in the middle of the order, especially if Tex wrist prohibits him from hitting with power. Cano was pretty clutch for them last year. Neither Beltran, Soriano or McCann are real #3-#4 hitters

Yeah, Lowrie would be a good replacement for Jeter, he can’t field either and is injured more than Ellsbury. Cabrera and Ramirez will be way over what the Yankees can spend with Arod back on the books. Hardy would be a good fit if you don’t mind his 293 OBP the past 2 years. Escobar has no power.

Drews bat is perfect for YS3 and he fills a real need in 2014 and beyond. The good news for the Al East is the Yankees are content to be a 85 W team in 2014. They won’t be in on Tanaka except to make a token offer to pretend they are for their fans, since they are still married to 189.